John R. Colella

He is survived by his sons Patrick, John, Paul and his wife Mary Ann, Barry and his wife Heather, and daughter Karen Murray and her husband Robert; grandchildren: Lauren, Courtney, Rachael, Carla, Amanda, Matthew, Jaclyn, Nicolas, and Joseph Colella, Robert and Christina Murray and many great grandchildren.

John is predeceased by his parents Patrick and Mildred Colella, his wife Florence and granddaughter Victoria Colella.

Mr. Colella graduated from East Orange High School in 1947. He was a pass catching end on legendary coach George Shotwell’s last East Orange High School football team which defeated Barringer High School 34-7 before 20,000 fans in Newark Schools Stadium in the fiftieth meeting of that storied rivalry on Thanksgiving Day 1946. He attended Seton Hall College and graduated from Upsala University with a B.A. in 1951. Mr. Colella served in the U.S. Navy as an officer from 1951 through 1957 including time in Korea. He was a Lt. Sr. Grade when separated from service in 1957.

Mr. Colella had a 30 year career with the Prudential Insurance Company that began as a District Agent and concluded as CMO of the Prudential Property and Casualty Company in Holmdel, N.J.and later as a

consultant in the same capacity in Seoul, Korea for Prudential of Korea. Other executive positions for Prudential found him in Newark, New York City, Philadelphia and Boston where he also served on the Board of Directors of the oldest Insurance Library in America. His proudest moment came as Director of the Greater Philadelphia Region, which he earned the coveted President’s trophy as the number one Region in the entire country for 1975 which coincided with Prudential’s 100th anniversary as an insurance company. He also engaged in volunteer work for the PALin Philadelphia and served as a member of the Board of Trustees at Bayshore Community Hospital and the executive board for Health Services, for a period of twenty years.

Visitation will be on Tuesday, June 11, 2024 from 4 to 8 p.m. and on Wednesday June 12, 2024 from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Quinn-Hopping Funeral Home, 26 Mule Road, Toms River, NJ 08755. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday, June 12, 2024 at 10:45 a.m. in St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, 30 Schoolhouse Rd., Whiting, NJ 08759. Burial will follow in the BG William C. Doyle NJ Veterans Cemetery, 350 Provinceline Road, Wrightstown, NJ 08562. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church.

John R. Colella